BesTV (600637.SH) recently made a noncommittal clarification in an announcement regarding the scandal of "squeezing into the game industry". According to the original rumors, BesTV is in contact with Shanghai Qifan Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qifan") to discuss the acquisition intention, and the agency responsible for the intermediary has given a valuation of 2.7 billion yuan. BesTV responded that the company's daily business contacts with relevant parties in the industry chain do not mean that the company has entered the decision-making process of external investment (acquisition, asset sales, etc.).
However, on July 25, according to a reporter from "China Business News" from people close to BesTV, the previous scandals were not all, and the characters that appeared were at least Huayi Jiaxin and Microsoft. The relationship between Huayi Jiaxin and BesTV was one after another. Where ever had contact. If the transaction is completed, the purchase price of 2.7 billion yuan will set a record for the acquisition of a game company by an A-share listed company in the first half of this year. And Microsoft's most famous game console Xbox One is expected to land in China through BesTV.
The question is, why did BesTV suddenly have a strong interest in game companies? If you dismantle BesTV's business model and the coherent actions in the past two years, it is not difficult to see that BesTV's drunkenness is definitely not just as simple as a game.
According to BesTV’s official introduction, it is the first Chinese A-share listed company controlled by Shanghai Radio and Television and Shanghai Oriental Media Group (SMG). Company President Tao Mingcheng disclosed at the annual shareholders meeting that the number of IPTV users of BesTV was 16 million by the end of 2012, and will exceed 20 million by the end of 2013. According to the company's strategic plan, BesTV will become the world's leading Internet TV operator and service provider within 3 to 5 years. Qiu Xin, chairman of BesTV New Media Co., Ltd., also revealed in an interview with the media that according to SMG's new media transformation plan, BesTV's role will be an industrial platform.
A person close to BesTV told reporters that according to the idea of an industrial platform, the outline of BesTV's industrial layout will generally be centered on hardware, including video, games, due, payment, communication, etc., which may become involved in the future. business. According to this layout, the origin of the scandal is within the framework of the game.
On the one hand, the company has ambitions, and on the other hand, it is because life is not so easy.
BesTV won the first national OTT (set-top box) license in 2012. After winning the license, BesTV launched the "Xiaohong" set-top box and built the BesTV cloud platform as an application store. However, the development is not clear, and Xiaomi, LeTV, and Ali are all very keen on boxes, so it is not uncommon to spend money for integration and resources. But BesTV will be more than just a box and an application platform in the future of TV. "The acquisition of the game is just a prelude. Integrating these contents into a certain terminal is the meaning of the drunkard." The above-mentioned person familiar with the matter said.
If you understand it in terms of terminals, BesTV doesn't have many choices for partners: Microsoft Xbox, Sony PS series consoles and Nintendo. According to conclusive information, BesTV has conducted several rounds of intensive negotiations with Microsoft. Prior to this, Liang Nianjian, president of Microsoft's Greater China region, has repeatedly expressed their frustration with the ban on Xbox. However, the establishment of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone will undoubtedly bring dawn to Microsoft. On July 3, the State Council executive meeting passed the "China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Overall Plan" in principle. The Shanghai Free Trade Zone plan will mainly promote the promotion of Shanghai The development of entrepot and offshore business in the city is also the first free trade zone in mainland China. According to the interpretation of Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, if a foreign company agrees to register in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, it will allow the company to operate in mainland China. Market and sell its products. While culturally relevant products will need to be approved by the government, for Microsoft, the Xbox is finally one step closer.
According to Microsoft's latest introduction to the functions of the Xbox One, the new Xbox One is no longer a simple game console, but integrates most of the functions of the current smart box, and even has all the functions compared to AndroidTV, which can control the function switch of the box through voice or gestures And switching, obviously Microsoft has set a higher threshold for the competition for smart living rooms. Under this, Xiaomi, LeTV and even Ali's rainbow boxes are at least far from their software and hardware strengths. If Xbox can really break through the ban, it needs more than approval. A partner with a strong background will make the market work more efficiently.
In exchange, BesTV can put its powerful localized media content resources into this "box" terminal on this basis, which is the logic of BesTV's meeting with Microsoft. Putting aside all the details, BesTV and Microsoft's desire to make up for each other is actually very strong. As for the progress of the hand-in-hand, the above-mentioned person familiar with the matter said that it can only be said that it is very positive, but it still needs patience when it involves many sensitive issues.
